Passion
by OrbThesela
Summary: Lucius/Narcissa, origins story. Lucius Malfoy never had any intentions towards Narcissa Black, at least that was until she started fighting back. Can he win her over and ultimately win her love? yes, I suck at summaries.
1. Chapter 1 Dead Man's Party

**Disclaimer:**All characters, terms and places associated with Harry Potter belong JK Rowling. This story is by no means an original concept, however I do own _this_ particular plotline. Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon and is only referenced in chapter titles and opening quotes. It would be pointless to send you're lawyers after me as I haven't got two brass haypennies to rub together.

**Warnings:** Bad language, violence, substance abuse and sexual scenes are highly likely to show up in the fic. I promise I will place an appropriate warning at the start of a chapter if there is sexual scenes as I don't want to give my favourite lady, nightmares by reading un-warned, parent porn. (Her term, not mine :p )

**A/N:** This is my attempt to tell the story of Lucius & Cissy, my regular readers will probably spot references to some of my regular characters.

**Chapter 1 - Dead Man's Party**

"_You want me to leave? _

_You can put your hands,_

_on my hot, tight, little body and make me."_

_Spike - 'I was made to love you,' Buffy the Vampire Slayer_

* * *

"Lucius Malfoy, if I catch you _sneaking_ around this house again, I will remove an appendage." Narcissa Black said, pointing her wand in the face of the blonde haired man. "And believe me when I tell you, it will _be_ something that you will miss!" Narcissa turned on her heels and stormed down the hallway to her bedroom, her wet hair flying out behind her as she went.

Lucius smirked to himself and relaxed, moving away from the wall that he had pressed his back against. He hadn't meant to walk into the bathroom that the youngest Black sister had been using to take a shower in, but it had been an unexpectedly, pleasant surprise. He straightened his jacket and turned the other way, heading down the stairs in the Black Family Manor and into the parlour where his friends were waiting for him.

"Find the facilities without any trouble, Lucius?" Bella asked, pouring herself a cup of tea from the pot sat in the middle of the coffee table.

"Well I found them." Lucius said, sitting down in an armchair. "But they were in use."

"What's that supposed to mean exactly?" Bella asked, raising an enquiring eyebrow.

"To put it simply, your sister was making use of them at the time." Lucius replied, matter of factly.

"You walked in on my sister?"

"I hardly did it on purpose." Said Lucius. "It was a complete accident."

"Well you better had go and apologise." Bella said, giving Lucius a stern look. "She _is_ coming to the party tonight and I don't want my evening being spoiled by having to act as a buffer between the pair of you all night."

"I really don't think that I would be the person she would most want to see at this point in time." Lucius began to argue, but between the harsh glare he was receiving from Bellatrix and the almost pleading look he was getting from Rodolphus, he relented. "Fine, I will go make amends."

"Good." Bella looked triumphant.

"If you'll excuse me then." Lucius said, getting to his feet and walking out of the room, muttering under his breath about; _that damn woman._ Lucius climbed the main stairs two at time, he would and apologise to Narcissa and then it would be over and done with. Then they could go on ignoring each others existence as they normally did. He walked down the hallway, going past the portraits of long dead Black family members and then the boarded up room of Andromeda Black. Since she had shamed her family by running off with the mudblood, Ted Tonks, they had all pretended that she had never existed in the first place.

Finally he reached Narcissa's door, he straightened himself up, smoothing his long hair with his hand to make sure that it wasn't out of place before tapping lightly on the door with his knuckles. He waited for a few moments before the door opened slightly and Narcissa's head craned around the edge.

"Yes? Oh... it's you. What do _you_ want?" She said, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Narcissa..." Lucius smiled his best smile, one usually reserved for buttering up his mother. "I came to apologise. I honestly had no idea that you were occupying the bathroom when I opened the door. I am truly sorry."

"You can save your apology's Lucius." Narcissa said. "I don't believe them and you don't mean them. Anything else?"

Lucius grinned. "Who's taking you to the party?"

"None of your business!" Narcissa slammed the door in his face, leaving the smirking Lucius to go back downstairs without an acceptance of his apology, but enough to leave Bella satisfied.

Narcissa threw her hair brush across the room in frustration. "That arrogant, prat!" She walked across the room to retrieve her hairbrush and sitting down at her dresser. "I hate that bloody, git." She said to herself.

She looked into her mirror, she hadn't started on her makeup yet and her hair was still damp in places, she thanked Merlin that Lucretia was coming over to help her get ready. She still hadn't chosen the outfit that she was going to wear, but she could trust Lucretia's sharp eye to scan through her wardrobe and find her the perfect outfit.

Her mind briefly wandered to the wonderful green, figure hugging dress that hung up in Andromeda's wardrobe. The dress had bought, but never worn and it would have been perfect for tonight, she knew it would hug her in all the right places, then hopefully, get the attention of a good pureblood boy. The party would be hell if she was expected to stick with Bella, watching her older sister fawn all over her boyfriend while their pervy friend lurked in the background, wasn't exactly Narcissa's idea of a good time.

There was a light tap on her door, she turned her head, it better not be Malfoy again. "Who is it?"

"It's Morgan Le Fey, I'm here for the sleepover. Who do you think it is? Open up!"

Narcissa smiled and got up from her seat, she walked across the room to open the door and let her friend inside. "Thank, Merlin that you're here." She said, stepping aside to allow Lucretia Orisha, past.

"You're not even, _half_ ready!" Lucretia said, looking at her friend in dismay. "What have you been doing all this time?"

"Being perved on by Lucius Malfoy." She replied, shrugging her shoulders.

"Don't tell me Bella's still dragging around that slimy git." Lucretia said, moving over to sit on the bed. "Why does she put up with him, Cissy?"

"Don't blame Bella. It's Rodolphus that he's friends with." Said Cissy, sitting down in front of her dresser. "Anyway, I don't want to talk about him anymore. The big issue is what I'm going to wear tonight."

"Hmm..." Lucretia stood up, walking over to Cissy's wardrobe and looking at the dresses hung up inside. "Have you made a short list of any of these?"

"No, they're all bloody horrible." Cissy said. "And it's awful because there's this absolutely _perfect_ dress, hanging up in Andromeda's wardrobe that she never wore."

"So? Go get it then, if it's perfect."

"I can't!" Cissy wailed. "Papa, would kill me if found out I went into Andromeda's room for the sake of a dress."

"Right, hold on." Lucretia said, she pulled a bottle of Black Vodka from her shoulder bag and handed it to her friend. "You get started on that, then do your bloody hair. I'll sort the dress." She winked at Narcissa before slipping out of the room.

Cissy looked at the bottle, Lucretia had been drinking a lot of this stuff recently, she believed it had something to do with the absence of her boyfriend, off on another one of his mysterious trips that Lucretia wouldn't tell Cissy anything about. She shrugged her shoulders and unscrewed the top from the bottle, pouring a small measure of the liquid into an empty water glass she had on her dresser. "Ok, Narcissa." She said, looking at her own reflection. "Hair, makeup, alcohol, in that order."

Fifteen minutes later, Cissy had made a lot of progress, her hair was now fixed in an elegant style, lot's of loose curls, most of it pinned up on top of her head and several loose tendril's hanging around her face and neck. She had brushed a light trace of silver powder across her eyelid, which seemed to add a sparkle to her blue eyes, she didn't like putting on _too_ much makeup, just enough to highlight her best features.

It was then that, Lucretia slinked back into her bedroom, the green dress draped over her arm. "There you go, I bloody well hope it's the right one."

Cissy stood up, throwing her arms around her friends shoulders, giving her a hug. "Lu! You are the best friend, _ever._ How did you get it?" She asked, pulling the dress from her friends arm and holding it against herself.

"It's probably best if you don't know, darling." She said, smirking. "Just get a move on and get dressed."

* * *

"This is the most boring party I have _ever_ been to." Narcissa said, looking at her friend. "If you hadn't been here, I probably would have gone home the minute I arrived."

"I hate to say it." Said Lucretia. "But I totally agree with you, love." She looked around the room, mostly it was filled with small groups who were just standing around, talking to one another. There were only 3 or so couples dancing in the middle of the room, but even they looked bored. "This party really needs livening up."

"Well don't look at me, I don't have any ideas." Cissy said with a shake of her head.

"Come on, let's go into the garden for a smoke while your Bella is wrapped around her boy." Lucretia pointed to the corner, Bella and Rodolphus seemed unaware they were the only ones appearing to have a good time.

Cissy nodded to her friend and followed her outside, to the rose gardens, standing next to a stone bench, Lucretia pulled a silver cigarette case from her handbag. She pressed the catch on the side, flipping it open and handed a white cigarette to Cissy. "There you go, love."

"Thanks, Lu." Cissy said, placing the cigarette in her mouth. She pulled her wand from her own handbag and lit the tip with a quick; incendio, spell.

Lucretia had placed a cigarette in her own mouth, but a voice from behind her stopped her from lighting it. "Lucretia?" She pulled the cigarette from her mouth and shoved both it and the case into Cissy's hands with a pleading look. She turned around, a large smile breaking across her face.

"Ash!" Lucretia then made a sound that Cissy could only describe as a squeal. Lucretia Orisha, the proud pureblood, squealed. She ran towards the devastatingly handsome, dark skinned man and threw her arms around him. "Why didn't you tell me that you were coming?"

"Well that would have ruined the surprise, wouldn't it?" He said, with a smirk. Looking over Lucretia's shoulder he made a small wave. "Hello Narcissa."

Cissy waved back. "Hullo Ash. Don't tell me, you've come to steal her away again? She's been the only thing keeping me sane at this party."

"Sorry love." He said, giving her a smile. "I just want her alone for twenty minutes, then I'll return her I promise."

"Thirty minutes." Lucretia said, smirking broadly at Ash Zabini.

"You're ambition impresses me." He said. "No more than half an hour, Narcissa, I promise. You should really give up those cigarettes, you know." He grabbed hold of Lucretia's hand and dragged her back into the house.

Cissy gave Ash a saccharin smile as he led her best friend away. On the one hand, she knew that it would be a nice treat for her friend to get to spend some decent time with her boyfriend, on the other it pissed her off that she was being left on her own. Now she was probably going to have to resort to trying to talk to Bella; _if_Bella could be pried away from Rodolphus, that was.

"He's right you know."

Cissy's head spun round, coughing a little from the smoke that she had wrongly inhaled.

"See, they aren't good for you." Lucius Malfoy quirked an eyebrow, smirking at the flustered Black sister.

"It really is none of your business." Cissy said, bringing the cigarette to her lips and taking a long drag on the minty flavoured smoke.

"Probably not." Lucius said. "But I can't help thinking how it ruins the profile of a young woman, such as yourself, to see smoke billowing out of your mouth every few seconds."

"And what is it that you are doing outside if it isn't to smoke?" Cissy said, noticing a number of cigar butt's on the stone pavement, near to where Lucius was standing.

He held up a silver hip flask, showing it to her. "It's terribly frowned upon to bring your own firewhiskey to this sort of affair, but as I feared, the stuff provided is of the lowest quality."

"Oh." Was all she could think to say and internally she was now kicking herself for it.

He smirked at her. "Would you like some? I guarantee it will be better than anything they are serving inside."

Cissy shook her head. "Black Vodka is more to my taste than that stuff."

"Fair enough." He said, taking a drink from his flask.

Cissy chewed on her lip, she didn't really want to be stuck out here talking to Lucius Malfoy, on the other hand, it would be obvious that she was avoiding him if she just threw away her half-smoked cigarette.

"You never did tell me you who was bringing you to this party." He smirked.

Cissy seethed.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**Blaise Zabini's mother, known canonically as Mrs Zabini, I always write as Lucretia Zabini. For the purposes of this story, for the very first time, I have had to give her a maiden name. I settled on Orisha. So Lucretia Orisha, is Blaise's mum. Anyone who gets the significance of this, gets a massive silver star. (Bugger gold, horrible Gryffindork colour.)**

**So, my dear readers, I would love some feedback on this one. **

**Massive thanks to go Twiist who beta-ed for me and Jonathan J Strange, who shouted at me to get my arse into gear on this one.  
**


	2. Chapter 2 Conversations with Dead People

**Disclaimer:**All characters, terms and places associated with Harry Potter belong JK Rowling. This story is by no means an original concept, however I do own _this_ particular plotline. Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon and is only referenced in chapter titles and opening quotes. It would be pointless to send you're lawyers after me as I haven't got two brass haypennies to rub together.

**Chapter 2 - Conversations with Dead People**

"_I'll find her, wherever she is,_

_tie her up, torture her,_

_until she likes me again_.

_Spike - 'Lovers walk,' Buffy the Vampire Slayer_

* * *

"And what time do you call this?"

Lucius looked around, not realising at first who was speaking to him as he reached the top of the stairs in the Malfoy Manor. He looked at his watch, checking the time. "I'd say it was about half past one."

"Your Mother has been checking your room every twenty minutes for the past two hours to see if you had decided to come home yet."

"Gran, I'm 21. I think I come can home at half past one without it being dubbed a national incident." Lucius said, trying to walk past.

"Where do you think you're going?" Hestia Malfoy said from her portrait. "Don't ignore me Lucius, I'll just follow you through every portrait in the house. I don't care if I wake the whole estate up."

"I'm_trying_ to go to bed, Gran." Said Lucius, shaking his head at the fact he was having a conversation with a painting. "Why do we have to go through this,_every_ time I come home late?"

"Because_every_ time you come home late, your mother paces up and down these halls, keeping me awake." She said. "It would be different if you could just pick a girl and stick to her, Lucius. But flitting from girl to girl is hardly conducive to fulfilling your pureblood obligations and carrying on the family name, is it?"

"I haven't met the right girl yet, that's all."

"Well you'd better hurry up and meet her, your mother's patience only extends so far and your father will no doubt be having words with you about it soon."

"Have you been eavesdropping on my parents conversations again?" Lucius accused, giving his grandmother a harsh look.

"You're lucky that I _do_ occasionally happen to over hear your parents conversations, who else is going to look out for you in this house?"

"I don't think lecturing me every time I walk past you, counts as looking out for me, Gran."

"Well if I didn't I would never get to talk to you, would I?" She said, raising her nose into the air and sniffing. "You never even say 'good morning' anymore. And when was the last time you visited me in the family crypt? Those dead carnations are beginning to look like a real eyesore!"

"Gran! What have I told you about that? It's _morbid_ to spy on people coming to visit your grave. The last time you said 'hello' to my mother while she was in there, she fainted and had to spend a week recuperating. Father said he'll place a silencing charm on the portraits if you don't behave."

"Your father is all talk and no action, he'll never do it." Hestia said with an air of confidence.

"If you keep talking like that, Father will have you hung in the cellar with Aunty Beatty." Lucius said with a smirk.

"Don't be soft, Lucius." She said, pointing her finger in the direction of his bedroom. "Just go to bed or your mother will have bags as big as Billywig's."

"I_tried_ doing that when I came in..."

"Yes, but I needed to talk to you first. Don't argue with me."

"Yes, alright, Gran. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Lucius shook his head and walked down the hall to his bedroom. He might have pretended otherwise, but he really enjoyed the spats he had with his Grandmother. In life she had been a fiery lady and it was not beyond her to hit him over the head with her snake-headed, walking cane. In death, the only thing that had changed about her was that she was no longer able to give him a clip round the ear-hole, when she thought he needed one. Her cane now lay in his father's study, on display and unused, which Lucius thought was a terrible shame.

* * *

"You sure you're Mother is ok with me staying here tonight?" Lucretia asked, placing a pillow at the end of the bed.

"Yeah of course she is." Cissy replied. "She doesn't mind it when you stay over." Cissy added an extra blanket to the bed. "Was it nice getting to spend some time with Ash?"

A dreamy look spread across Lucretia's face. "Yes. It was a surprise of the best kind." She looked a little guilty. "Sorry for abandoning you, by the way. It's just..."

"I know, I know, you hardly get to see him." Cissy said with a small shake of her head. "It's ok, it was worth it, if at least one of us had a good time at that wretched party."

"Ok." Lucretia said, sitting down on the bed and giving her friend a stern look. "What happened?"

"Oh, it wasn't anything."

"_Cissy..._"

"Alright." She sighed and sat down opposite her friend. "Lucius Malfoy..."

"Not again!" Lucretia shook her head sadly. "Don't tell me I subjected you to that git? I'm so sorry, Cissy."

"Sadly, yes, you did subject me to him again." She dropped her shoulders a little. "But it's ok, I was more annoyed at myself than anything. He's so bloody quick off the mark, he says something to me and my mouth starts talking before it has time to catch up with my brain."

"That's awful, darling."

"It's not that bad, I just want to throw myself into the pits of darkness for a few minutes." Cissy said, picking up her half drunk, glass of black vodka and taking a sip. "I don't know why I can't just meet a _nice_, pureblood boy. Does your Ash have any brothers?"

"I'm not entirely sure, actually, Cissy." Lucretia said, taking the glass from her friends hand and having a sip. "I asked him about it one day and all he did was go all quiet and start muttering under his breath. So he either _doesn't_ and he's bitter about having to carry the family responsibilities on his own or he _does_ and they're either dead or disowned." She closed her eyes, very poor choice of words.

Cissy shook her head. "It's ok, Lu. Don't worry about it."

"Are you ok?"

"Of course I am." Cissy, smiled. "I'm going downstairs and get a sandwich or something. I'm starving. You want anything?"

"No, I'm fine, darling."

"Alright, I'll be back in about ten minutes." She said, sliding off the bed and walking out of her room to go downstairs. She walked as quietly as she could, not wanting to disturb anyone in the house as she walked into the kitchen and went straight to the cabinet to pull out some cooked ham and bread to make a sandwich with. It was then, while standing with her bare feet on the cold stone floor, that something clicked inside her mind.

She had come into the kitchen once, to get a vase for her mother, if she remembered correctly and had seen Andromeda hiding something at the back of a cupboard. She had forgotten about it until that very moment and she had meant to inspect it not long after that to see what it was her sister had been hiding. But Andromeda running away and marrying that _mudblood,_ Ted Tonks, had made the whole family want to forget that she had ever existed at all and Cissy had forgotten about Andromeda's hiding place altogether.

Cissy walked over to the cupboard and slid her small hand into the gap and could feel something brush against her fingertips, she wiggled her fingers a little and managed to grasp at something, thin and papery. She gave it a sharp tug and pulled an envelope free, of it's dusty hiding place.

She looked down, turned the yellowed envelope in her hands and inspecting the name on the front of it. She raised a curious eyebrow and lifted the flap, carefully removing the parchment from inside before she unfolded it and began to read.

_My Darling,_

_I know that we can never be together, but it doesn't stop me thinking about you. _

_My mind cannot forget the night of ecstasy that we spent in one another's arms. _

_I beg to spend one more night with you. _

_If you reply to this letter, with your consent, then I will come to your house tomorrow_

_and ask your father for your hand. If you do not, then I will take it as a rejection and_

_leave you to your happiness, with whomever you chose._

_I wait with anticipation._

_Rabastan_

_X_

Cissy folded the letter up and raised her eyebrows; whatever she had been expecting to see inside that letter, it was safe to say that what she'd read, had not been it. She wasn't sure why she was so surprised, sisters were supposed to look out for one another. Rabastan must have delivered the letter by hand, as there were no claw marks on the envelope nor any other of the telltale signs of owl post. Andromeda had been protecting her big sister; preventing her boyfriend from finding out she had slept with his brother.

Cissy took the envelope and slid it back into it's hiding place. She might be dead to her now, but she would allow Andromeda to keep the one last, good thing she had done for her family, alive.

* * *

Lucius sat in his bedroom, enjoying a final glass of firewhiskey, before planning on getting into his bed and sleeping away most of the next morning. His thoughts drifted back to the party, he had particularly enjoyed tormenting the youngest Black sister in the rose garden while she had smoked her cigarette. She was the perfect kind of girl to torment, one who bit easily and who didn't have an answer at the ready to whatever he might say.

It helped that she wasn't entirely, unpleasant to the eye either, he wasn't sure why he hadn't noticed before, but he would have to have been blind not to notice her tonight. He thought it a shame that such a fantastic dress was wasted on that particularly pathetic party. His eyes scanned over her in his mind, the cut on the back had accentuated her slim frame and there had been something about the way it had hung on the front that had made her ample breasts impossible not to notice.

He began concocting things in his mind; while Rodolphus insisted on spending so much time with Bellatrix, he may as well use it to his advantage. As long as he did it subtly, Narcissa Black might be fun to play with for a while.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**This chapter was, in part, inspired by the fabulous; Makani's fanart. If you aren't familiar with her work, just type: accio brain, into google and her site should come up. Check out her fanart 100 if you like Lucius/Cissy because I can't even begin to explain how good she is.**

**Thanks go to my beta Twiist for helping to cope with my eccentricities. Thanks also to allycat1186 and GiggleGinny, thanks for your reviews girls!**

**Please R&R**


	3. Chapter 3 Enemies

**Disclaimer:**All characters, terms and places associated with Harry Potter belong JK Rowling. This story is by no means an original concept, however I do own _this_ particular plotline. Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon and is only referenced in chapter titles and opening quotes. It would be pointless to send you're lawyers after me as I haven't got two brass haypennies to rub together.

**Chapter 3 - Enemies**

"_Oh... My head. _

_I think I'm sobering up._

_It's horrible. _

_Oh, God. I wish I was dead_."

_Spike - 'Lovers walk,' Buffy the Vampire Slayer_

* * *

"I do not see why I have to go with you, Bella." Cissy said, folding her arms across her chest.

"Oh come on, Cissy!" Bella pleaded to her sister. "Me and Rodolphus want to spend some time alone we need someone to keep Lucius company."

"Then let him find his own girl to bring!" Cissy scathed. "Or better yet, don't bring him with you at all. I don't see why he has to tag along everywhere with you two, like a lost puppy."

"It's Rodolphus who wants to bring him, Cissy. It won't _just_ be you and him, it'll be all four of us, it'll be fun."

"I'd hardly define, spending a day with my sister, her boyfriend and their creepy friend at the seaside, as fun."

"Oh, you are so stubborn, sometimes!" Bella said, getting frustrated. "You're sounding, more and more like Papa every day."

"I am not!"

"Cissy, please. Do it for me, you never know, you might find something you like about Lucius."

"As long as I live, I doubt I will find _anything_ to like about; Lucius Malfoy."

* * *

"I cannot _believe_ you talked me into this." Lucius said, glaring at his friend. "Spend the day with me and Bella; you said. Not; come out with us, we're spending the day in a sand-filled, cess pit!"

"Well if I had known of your extreme aversion to sand, then I wouldn't have invited you, would I?" Rodolphus said with a shrug of his shoulders. "How was I supposed to know?"

Cissy smirked and looked at her sister, maybe this wouldn't be such an awful day after all. So Lucius wasn't a fan of sand? Well, that made things a lot easier.

"Well we're here now, Lucius, so you may as well make the best of it." Bella remarked. "And if you don't mind, we're going to disappear for a few minutes." She grabbed hold of Rodolphus' arm.

"Oh, I don't mind, Bella." Cissy said, a broad smirk planted across her lips. "You go and have a good time, I know _exactly_ what I want to do."

"Great." Bella dragged Rodolphus off before either he or Lucius had a chance to protest.

"So..." Lucius looked at the small blonde haired girl, he doubted there would be much opportunity for him to wind the young Black sister up at the seaside, he just willed his friend to get bored quickly so that he could return home without seeming rude. "I suppose you want to go have some tea or something?"

"No." Cissy smiled. "I have my own plans, I suppose you can wait here for me, if you want. But I'm sure my sister would be very disappointed if she found out that you had chosen to stand here sulking, instead of coming with me to make sure I don't get harassed by muggles." She flipped him a coy look, before strutting across the road, swinging her hips as she went.

Lucius growled under his breath, he wouldn't let this young girl have an advantage over him, he certainly wouldn't give her the satisfaction of seeing him hanging about and waiting for Rodolphus to return. Reluctantly, he crossed the road after her, following her onto the beach.

Cissy slipped her sandals off her feet and placed them inside her handbag, she had charmed it so it would hold a lot more than it looked like it could, very handy, she thought, for times she had a lot of shopping and only two hands. She stepped onto the sand, she loved the feeling of the warm grains between her toes, she allowed herself a quick look over her shoulder to see if he was following her, he was, excellent.

"Will you please tell me where you are going?" Lucius asked as he struggled to follow her in the loose, dry sand.

"I'm going to look in the rock pools." Cissy replied. "It's the best thing about this beach, you don't have to come."

He frowned, he wasn't about to let her get the best of him for the sake of looking at a few rocks. He followed after her, carefully, as she began walking over the stones. He could see now, why she had removed her shoes, his smart walking shoes had no grip to the bottom and it was making it very difficult to manoeuvre over the seaweed covered rocks. By the time he had caught up to her, she was squatting on her haunches, staring into one of the larger rock pools. "What in the name of, Merlin, could be worth this ordeal?"

"Look." She said, pointing into the rock pool.

Lucius looked, he couldn't see anything of particular interest, some seaweed, a few mussels and a lot of pebbles. "Very interesting." He muttered.

"If you look _properly_, it_is_ very interesting." She said. "There are crabs, mussels, winkles, limpets, barnacles, fish..."

"I don't see any fish."

"Thats because they are very small and hide in the seaweed." She said, matter of factly. "This rock pool is teeming with life, completely unaware of the huge world around them, this is the extent of their world, I think it's fascinating."

Lucius raised his eyebrow, although personally he didn't find the lives of shellfish to be a particularly fascinating one, he had to admit that he could understand _why_ she found it interesting. "So, is this your idea of what one does when they go to the beach?"

"It's not the only thing, but it's definitely my first stop." She said, standing up. Cissy took a step, to move to the next rock pool, but the seaweed she had stepped on was wetter than it looked. Her foot slid out from underneath her and her arms flew up in surprise. She closed her eyes, expecting the next thing she felt to be her back landing on the hard stone. Instead, she felt a strong pair of arms grab her around the waist, catching her and pulling her towards a strong body, one that belonged to Lucius Malfoy.

It took her a few seconds to open her eyes, finding herself pressed against his broad chest. She looked up at his face and he seemed as surprised as she was, that he had caught her. Something in her stomach flipped over and suddenly, she felt very uncomfortable.

Lucius looked down at the young blonde woman in his arms, she looked small, pressed against his chest. He hadn't expected to catch her, he had just reacted. In fact, when he thought about it, he imagined it would have been rather funny to see Narcissa Black fall flat on her arse. However, when he looked into her surprised face, he saw nothing funny, he just felt his stomach lurch, with a feeling somewhere in-between agony and ecstasy. He waited for her to move her feet and regain her balance before releasing her, though this took entirely longer than he felt comfortable with.

"So, erm, perhaps we should..."

"Let's go get an ice cream." She said, jumping off the rocks onto the sand. She walked as quickly as she could, willing the sea air to blow away her reddening cheeks. '_What the hell was that?_' She thought to herself. She couldn't stand Lucius Malfoy, she certainly shouldn't be getting the stomach butterflies from him.

"Good idea." He said, following after her, glad for once that he could feel sand beneath his shoes instead of sea weed. He caught up with her at the road as she was putting her sandals back on after brushing most of the sand from the soles of her feet.

"Do you have any muggle money?" She asked, not looking at him.

"Yes, a little. Rodolphus said to bring some." He replied, wondering why she wasn't looking at him. Thinking it was perhaps because she would have rather fallen flat than be caught by him.

"Good, you can buy them."

Once again, Lucius found himself trailing after Narcissa, standing behind her in the queue for the Pacittos ice creams. Reaching the window, Narcissa mulled over the menu before speaking to the woman behind the counter. "I'll a lemon top 99, with a flake, oh can I have hundreds & thousands on it as well?"

"Lemon top?" Lucius raised his eyebrow curiously.

"You can only get them here, it's lemon sorbet, it's lovely."

"I don't like lemon sorbet." He said, sulkily. In actual fact, he loved lemon sorbet, but didn't want to give her the satisfaction of agreeing with her.

"Fine." She said, turning to look at the woman. "_He'll_ have a strawberry top 99, with a flake."

"And sauce." Lucius said, without thinking.

Cissy smiled. "And strawberry sauce." She took her ice cream from the woman and pointed at Lucius. "He's paying."

Lucius reached into his pocket and threw a handful of gold coins onto the counter, taking his ice cream from the woman he muttered that she could keep the change and then followed after Narcissa.

"After you have finished your ice cream, would you mind terribly if we found somewhere to have a drink?" He asked.

"Can you not do anything sober?" She asked in return. "It _is_ possible you know, to go through life without your mouth attached to a hip flask full of firewhiskey."

"I have no doubt it's possible." He said. "But that's a very boring world to live in."

Cissy rolled her eyes and ignored him, deciding that she would much rather put her efforts into consuming her ice cream. Her pink tongue flicked over the top of the lemon sorbet, lapping it into her mouth, unconsciously, she gave a small moan of pleasure. She pulled the flake from the vanilla part of her ice cream and placed it in her mouth and sucking the ice cream from it before devouring the chocolate in one bite.

She looked at Lucius, whom for some reason was staring at her. "You're dripping." She said, pointing to the cone he was holding, where a long, thick drip of ice cream was coming down the cone and closing in on his hand. Cissy shrugged her shoulders and grabbed his hand, pulling it towards her and licking the drip from his cone before returning her attention to her own ice cream.

Lucius stared, mouth open at Narcissa. The last thing on his mind was ice cream, he dropped his cone, untouched, into a bin. He made a mental note that sitting down as soon as possible would probably be for the best.

* * *

**To our American cousins (and no doubt, a lot of English Southerners.) Up north we have this absolutely to **_**die**_** for, family run ice cream parlour chain called Pacittos. If you are ever in the north east of England, (Redcar, Scarborough, Stockton-on-Tees.) You MUST go to Pacittos and get yourself either a lemon top or a strawberry top. Lemon tops are a kind of lemon sorbet on top of regular vanilla ice cream, served in a cone and Strawberry tops are strawberry ice cream, served on top of vanilla. 99 is just another name for an ice cream cone and hundreds & thousands are multicoloured sprinkles.**

**Thanks go to GiggleGinny and also to Twiist, who beta-ed this chap for me which meant that it's now no longer full of my northernisms... :s**

A special mention goes to Jonathan J Strange, as when he read this chapter, he gave me a funny look and claimed that I had a very perverse mind. (It's not true, I swear!)


	4. Chapter 4 Touched

**Disclaimer:**All characters, terms and places associated with Harry Potter belong JK Rowling. This story is by no means an original concept, however I do own _this_ particular plotline. Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon and is only referenced in chapter titles and opening quotes. It would be pointless to send you're lawyers after me as I haven't got two brass haypennies to rub together.

**Chapter 4 - Touched**

"_Angel's lame. His hair sticks straight up and he's bloody stupid_."

_Buffybot - 'Intervention,' Buffy the Vampire Slayer_

* * *

Lucius looked down into Narcissa's eyes as he held her in his arms, pressed against his chest. The faint smell of minty smoke hung in her hair and he didn't dislike it. He slowly bent his head down, the feeling of her breath against his skin caused his stomach to lurch a little. His lips brushed against hers and he couldn't hold back anymore, he pressed his mouth against hers and he was kissing her. Her lips parted, his tongue slipped inside her mouth and gently slid along the inside of her lips...

Lucius sat bolt upright. He looked around his bedroom, he was alone. It had been a dream, a _very_ realistic dream. He looked down the covers and groaned; that wasn't an erection that was going away anytime soon.

He lay back down, holding his pillow he closed his eyes, trying to think of _something_ to push the thoughts of his dream from his head. '_Gran_._ Gran and Aunty Beatty drinking tea. Gran and Aunty Beatty drinking tea and eating cream cakes. Narcissa eating cream cakes. Narcissa's, small, pink, tongue lapping up the cream..._'

"Argh!" Lucius felt like crying into his pillow.

He did not fancy Narcissa Black. He did not. He did not...

'_Narcissa dabbing the cream with her finger and sucking it off, slowly..._'

Ok, maybe he did.

* * *

Lucius wasn't exactly sure what he was doing or how he had ended up at the Black Family Manor, but he found himself stood at the door waiting for the house elf to open up and let him inside. He ran his right hand over his head, smoothing down his hair. He had chosen to wear it tied back with a black velvet ribbon, something which his Grandmother had given an approving nod to as he had walked past her portrait.

The door opened and Bella stood in the doorway, he hadn't been prepared for this. "Hullo, Bella." He struggled to find something to say, he needed a reason for being there, he couldn't just show up randomly to the house.

"Oh, hello, Lucius. If you're looking for Rodolphus, he isn't here, but you can come in anyway if you'd like. Cissy has her friends over and they've taken over the sitting room. But since you're here, they might quiet down a bit." She stepped aside, allowing him to pass by her and enter the house.

Lucius followed Bellatrix through the hallway and into the sitting room, Lucius made sure he did not cast a glance in Narcissa's direction. He was not here for her; he was here to talk to Bella and he would just have to keep telling himself that. He kept his eyes trained on the eldest Black sister, although part of him desperately wanted to see if Narcissa had noticed that he had entered the room.

He didn't turn his head from Bella until he heard the distinct sound of a man's laugh, shifting his gaze slightly he noticed that Narcissa was sitting with her friend, Lucretia Orisha, and the unnervingly handsome boyfriend, Ash Zabini. Lucius wasn't exactly sure as to why he was jealous of the man, after all he was _Lucretia's_ boyfriend. Narcissa was simply talking to him, laughing with him, smiling at him...

"Cissy." Bella caught her sister's attention and simultaneously broke Lucius' glare. "Lucius is here, we are joining you. I expect there will be no problem."

Cissy shrugged her shoulders. "Do what you like, Ash is just telling us a story."

Bella took a seat next to Lucretia and Lucius swallowed; the last free seat was next to Narcissa herself. He would have preferred to not sit so close, especially since the minty taste of her breath still hung in his mouth from his dreams. But he took his seat regardless, trying to ignore where her dress had slightly risen up, exposing just a little of her creamy thigh. He imagined those creamy thighs wrapped around his waist, her chest heavy, a hoarse whisper escaping from her throat, moaning his name...

'_For Merlin's sake, not now Lucius!_' He scolded himself, now was definitely not the time to allow his fantasies to run away with themselves.

"Tea, Lucius?" Bella spoke, holding up the tea pot and raising an eyebrow.

Had she seen him staring at her sister's leg? He couldn't be sure. "Yes, thank you Bella." He crossed his legs; he had no choice at that point.

Ash Zabini seemed unfazed by the arrival of Lucius and carried on with his story. "So I said to the bloke, 'this amulet wards away trolls'. And he said, 'there aren't any trolls around here, you're having me on.' So I said to him, 'of course there aren't any trolls around here, the amulet is keeping them away!'"

Lucretia laughed, Narcissa clapped her hands in delight, even Bella seemed slightly impressed by the story, clearly Lucius had missed something.

"Did he buy it?" Lucretia asked.

"Paid 17 galleons." He replied.

This answer was met to smiles all around from the women, Lucius was unimpressed, it did not take a genius to sell an idiot a worthless piece of tat with a good story attached to it.

Lucius picked up the cup of tea that Bella had poured for him, taking a sip he looked at Ash Zabini. "Tell me, Ash. What _is_ it that you do exactly?" He took another sip, managing to keep the disdain from his voice. "If I am to understand correctly, your occupation is somewhat of a mystery."

The smile faltered from Ash's face a little. "Well I work on the continent, Germany mostly."

"Germany?" Lucius raised an eyebrow. "How.. _intriguing_. Well, your offer of a vague location has certainly cleared the matter of your occupation up."

Lucius looked a little smug, until he glanced sideways at Narcissa; the look she was giving him was practically poisonous.

"Ash, why don't you tell the story about the time you saw a werewolf in the forbidden forest." Lucretia said, choosing to ignore Lucius' comments.

"Werewolves?" Lucius scoffed, raising his eyebrow. "There aren't any werewolves in the forbidden forest!"

"Oh really?" Ash furrowed his brow. "And how would you know?"

"Everyone knows that." Lucius said, matter of factly.

"Well if everyone knows, then it _must_ be true." Said Ash, defensively.

"Alright boys." Bella said, interrupting the ongoing display of testosterone. "Maybe we should change the subject?"

"Actually." Said Ash, looking at his watch. "I have to get going. I have a portkey scheduled in about an hour."

"You're going already?" Lucretia pouted slightly. "You've only been back a couple of days."

"I know, love. But I'll be back again at the end of the month" He stood up and gave Narcissa a small bow. "Thank you very much for the company, Cissy. Be sure to give your mother my best." He looked to Bella. "Bellatrix, always a pleasure."

Lucretia got up from her seat. "I'll walk you to the gate."

Narcissa threw Bella a look and she took that as a cue to stand also. "The pot's getting cold, I think I'll make a fresh one."

Lucius knew something was wrong as Lucretia, Ash and Bellatrix all left the room. He didn't want to turn and look at Narcissa, but he knew he had to.

"_What_ was that about?" Cissy said.

He turned to look at her; the scowl she was wearing looked like it could kill. "What was what about?" '_Play ignorant, Lucius. It's your only chance._' He told himself.

"You know exactly what Lucius Malfoy!" She said, narrowing her eyes at him. "Questioning every thing that Ash said. Why exactly did you have to push the issue?"

"Oh don't be so naive." Lucius said, getting to his feet. "He_clearly_ made all those stories up. If I were _you_ I'd be more worried about your friend than her boyfriend. He probably has a different girl in every country, he's stringing her along."

Narcissa stood to her feet, trying to square up to the man who was taller than her by at least a clear foot. "No body _cares_ if the stories are made up! He tells them well and that's all we're bothered about. And _as_ for having a different girl in every country, well that just goes to show what a _spiteful_,_nasty_, _hateful_,_jealous_..."

"Jealous?" He had never been so offended. "What have I got to be _jealous_ about?"

"Oh I don't know, his good looks, his beautiful girlfriend, his ability to speak without offending a single person! Pick one!"

"It will be a cold day in hell before I am jealous of that jumped up little upstart!"

"Have you heard yourself? You're so sure of your own superiority, aren't you?"

"Perhaps I am, although with a far better reason than a hoard of fake stories reserved for the sake of entertaining little girls. What is it that bothers you so much, _Narcissa_, my good looks, my vast amounts of money, the ability to speak in words that are true! How about _you _pick one!"

"You are such an arrogant, prat! I hate you!"

"Well_you_ are a spoilt,_mouthy_, brat!" Lucius said, looking directly into her eyes.

"How_dare_ you?" Cissy glared at him and moved to storm away.

Lucius reached out and caught her wrist in his hand. "Not giving up already are you, Narcissa?"

"Let me go! You are _impossible_. Woe betide the woman who ends up stuck with you."

Lucius smirked. "Why don't you make me let go."

She drew her wand and pointing it in his face, but he caught her wrist with his other hand and pinned both her arms to her side. "Let. Me. Go."

Her breath felt hot against his face. He considered her order for a moment before smirking at her. "You're going to have to try harder than that..."

Before he could stop himself, he bent his head and pressed his lips against her.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

** Dammit, my author's notes disappeared along with the page breaks. Sometimes I hate FF when they decide to change things for no apparent reason, I LIKED the little dashy things as page breaks.  
**


	5. Chapter 5 Pangs

**Disclaimer:**All characters, terms and places associated with Harry Potter belong JK Rowling. This story is by no means an original concept, however I do own _this_ particular plotline. Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon and is referenced in chapter titles and opening quotes. It would be pointless to send you're lawyers after me as I haven't got two brass haypennies to rub together.

**Chapter 5 - Pangs**

"_Darn__ your sinister attraction_."

_Buffybot - 'Intervention,' Buffy the Vampire Slayer_

* * *

The last thing Narcissa had been expecting was for Lucius to press his lips to hers, but now she was faced with the situation, it was hard to imagine anything else. Her arms were pinned to her sides; she couldn't move. Her stomach flipped over with a pang that was both painful and wonderful at the same time. She felt a breath escape from his nose, brushing across her cheek and she could no longer hold her ridged position. She almost melted in his arms, her whole body eased as she allowed her own breath to escape as she kissed him back.

Lucius hadn't expected her mouth to move against his, but once it did, he released his hold on her wrists, sliding his arms around her waist and pulling her towards him so that she pressed against his chest. He felt her hands slide up his arms and wrap around his neck as he kissed her. He found her mouth parting slightly, allowing him to turn the one long kiss into a series of small ones, encompassing her lower lip in-between his.

"Cissy!"

They broke away from one another, turning to face the door, seeing a rather shocked looking Bellatrix stood in the doorway.

"I left so you could _hex_ him, not _kiss_ him."

"Well, Bella, I didn't _know _he was going to kiss me." Cissy said, brushing her mouth with her thumb.

"Oh really?" Bella raised her eyebrow. Stepping into the room, she drew her wand and pointed it at Lucius. "Did you _force_ yourself on _my sister_?"

Lucius held his hands up in his protest. "Bella, I assure you I..."

"Bella, it was just in the heat of the moment." Cissy interrupted. "Put your wand down, for Merlin's sake." Her eyes flicked to Lucius for a second before returning her gaze to her sister. "If he had tried to force me to do anything, I would have blasted his foot off."

Bella seemed to consider this for a moment before putting her wand away. "Alright, I realise you may have a point there." She quirked her eyebrow a little. "And I suppose that you wouldn't defend _him_ for no good reason."

"Exactly." Cissy said, giving Bella a look which said: _Leave, leave now_.

Bella furrowed her brow a little. "Alright. I suppose I will make the tea." She made a step to leave, then turned her head to look at Lucius. "No, funny business." She left the room, muttering under her breath as she went.

Lucius looked to Narcissa, finally relaxing as Bella had left the room. "Thank you, Narcissa. I..."

Cissy prodded her index finger into his chest. "OK. _What_ was that about?"

"What was what about?"

"The_kissing_." She said, narrowing her eyes a little.

Lucius smirked at Narcissa. "Oh, so you _didn't_ enjoy it then?"

"Just because I didn't fancy spending the next month getting _Malfoy_ out of the carpet, doesn't mean that..."

"Oh, will you just drop it?" Lucius smirked and stepped forward, taking hold of Narcissa's hand. "_If_ you disliked it that much, you wouldn't have kissed me back."

"I did _not_..." Cissy began.

"You_did_." Lucius smiled at her, pressing his thumb into the palm of her hand. "And you_liked_ it. You're just going to have to admit that you find me _very_ attractive."

"Oh, I am, am I?"

"Clearly."

"In that case, you're going to have to admit that _you_, find _me_ very attractive." Cissy said. "So much so, that you cannot keep you cannot keeps your hands to yourself."

"Nonsense." Said Lucius. "It was the heat of the moment."

"Oh, really?"

"Really."

"So, if I did this..." She brought her hand up to his arm, running her fingers up slowly, until they reached his neck. She curled her fingers around some loose hair at the back of his neck, her thumbnail gently scraping against his skin. She smirked to herself as his eyes involuntarily closed. "Oh, so that doesn't bother you at all."

She withdrew her hand and Lucius opened his eyes, watching her as she took a step back from him. "Ok fine, I'll admit it. I'm attracted to you."

"I'm very glad that you're mature enough to admit that." Cissy said with satisfaction.

"And you are _clearly_ attracted to me." He quickly added.

Cissy folded her arms, tilting her chin to the side. "Maybe a little. But I have no interest in a man who has no idea about romance."

"What makes you think I have no idea about romance?"

'_What are you saying you idiot? You don't DO romance. You let them see your bank balance, then they let you see their... _'

Cissy smirked. "Alright, I have an idea."

"Go on."

"I'll give you a trial run. One evening. You make the arrangements, I'll show up." Cissy looked at him cockily, this was a challenge.

He wasn't going to allow her to beat him at his own game. "Well that sounds fine to me." Lucius said, folding his arms, looking equally cocky. "What did you have in mind?"

"Oh I'll leave that to you. After all, you're the one who knows about _romance_, right?"

"I'm sure I'll think of something suitable." He smirked.

'_You idiot._'

"Well it seems we have an arrangement, Lucius."

"Indeed we do, Narcissa."

* * *

"You did WHAT?"

"Will you lower your voice? It's not _that_ shocking."

"Not that shocking? You agree to go out with Lucius Malfoy and I am supposed to be not shocked?"

"You're making it sound much worse than it is, Lu." Cissy refilled her glass with Black Vodka and raised it to her lips.

"But this is _Lucius Malfoy_. We _hate_ him." Lucretia took a large drink from her own glass, she needed it. "He's arrogant, he's full of himself, he _really_ needs a haircut..."

"Oh, just because you like your men bald." Cissy said with a smirk.

"Ash-is-not-bald-he-shaves-his-head." Lucretia said, resuming her argument. "_Lucius_ is creepy, always showing up when you least expect him to, he's obnoxious, he's..."

"... A really good kisser."

"Cissy!"

"What?" Cissy giggled. She could not help herself, the look on Lucretia's face was too humorous to ignore. "Don't be such a prude."

"I'm not being a prude." Lucretia pouted a little. "I just can't believe you kissed _him_." She shook her head and took another sip from her glass, looking at her friend for a few seconds in silence before finally relenting. "Alright, what's he like?"

"I_knew_ you were dying to ask!"

"I was not dying to ask. I knew that you were dying to tell. Come on, spill the beans before I lose interest."

"Ok." Cissy adjusted herself in her chair, facing her friend so she could put full emphasis into the story. "Well, first, he _grabbed_ me and pinned my arms to my sides so I couldn't move..."

"Ah-huh..." Lucretia nodded with a slight smile spread across her lips.

"Then, he just kissed me, really forcefully and my stomach did that flippy over thing..."

"Oh, I _love_ that..."

"Then I just relaxed and he put his arms around my waist and I put my hands around his neck and then he started doing that thing where, you know when you're kissing a guy and he's a _really_ good kisser and he does those small kisses on your mouth?"

"Ah-huh."

"Well he was doing that and then Bella walked in."

"NO!"

"She did! I thought she was going to hex him right out of his shoes." Cissy laughed.

"Ok, it does sound like he was a really good kisser." Lucretia smiled, taking another drink from her glass.

"Do you still get the stomach flippy over thing with Ash?"

Lucretia nodded a little. "Yeah, but not as much as when we first started seeing each other."

"I would be so perfectly happy, if I found a guy who I still got that feeling with when I was in my forties." Cissy said, smiling.

"Now_ that_ would be the mark of real, true, love."

Both girls sighed dreamily.

* * *

"You need WHAT?"

"Gran!" Lucius said, looking around to make sure his parents weren't in earshot. "Can you maybe come to my room and talk about this there please?"

"Fine." She sighed. "I'll meet you there in about five minutes, whenever I walk through your Great Uncle Aegeon's portrait, he tries to accost me into conversation."

"Alright Gran."

Five minutes later, Lucius was sat in the armchair in his room, drinking a large glass of firewhiskey and waiting for his grandmother to appear in the portrait frame.

"Oh, that Aegeon!" Hestia Malfoy appeared in the frame, looking a little flustered. "I'll have to have words with your father about having him moved."

"How about in the cellar, next to Aunty Beatty?" Lucius smirked.

"Oh, you are a horrible boy."

"I wonder where I get it from?"

"Anymore talk like that and you won't get my help, Lucius."

"Alright, I'm sorry Gran."

"That's better. Now, tell me about this girl."

Lucius sighed and took a drink from his glass. "She's called Narcissa Black."

"Ah, the Black's, excellent lineage."

"_Gran_..."

"Ok, no more interruptions..." Hestia said with a smile.

"She's an unusual girl. She _intrigues_ me."

"Merlin's beard, you must have it bad, my dear child. She _intrigues_ you. Well, they used different words in my day, but I can see now why you need my help."

"Gran, you said no interruptions."

"Oh, I've heard enough. There's nothing romantic about telling a girl you find her _intriguing..._"

"Oh, bloody hell." Lucius drained his glass and topped it up again from a decanter on his coffee table. "I wish I had never asked now."

"You said, you needed help to plan a romantic evening. Well, Merlin knows where I went wrong with your father, but I'm sure I can teach you a thing or two."

Lucius sighed, taking another drink from his glass; taking romance advice from his dead grandmother, wasn't exactly the ideal way to prepare for taking Narcissa out for the evening, but it was the best he had. "Ok Gran, I'm all ears."

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**First, I'd like to thank all my lovely reviewers, Jonathan J Strange, snapefan2007, allycat1186, GiggleGinny & NavyBlueDreamsandKhakithoughts. **

**I have another chapter on it's way, but it might take me a couple of days, to get round to uploading. **

**Thanks for reading, Please R&R**


	6. Chapter 6 Never Kill a Boy on a 1st Date

**Disclaimer: **All characters, terms and places associated with Harry Potter belong JK Rowling. This story is by no means an original concept, however I do own _this_ particular plotline. Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon and is only referenced in chapter titles and opening quotes. It would be pointless to send you're lawyers after me as I haven't got two brass haypennies to rub together.

**Chapter 6 - Never Kill a Boy on the First Date**

"_I'm bored. Episode 1 bored..._"

_Andrew - 'Showtime,' Buffy the Vampire Slayer_

* * *

'_Right, Lucius, your hair looks good, you've got your best jacket on, reservations have been booked for the quilted giraffe and Narcissa knows your due to arrive at any minute. All you have to do, is not screw it up! _'

Lucius let out a deep breath as he knocked lightly on the door of the Black Family Manor and waited for the door to open. Eventually the door swung open and he was greeted by a small house elf, peering up at him from the doorframe. "Yes?"

"I'm here to see Miss Narcissa." Lucius said, resisting the urge to kick the house elf out of the way, he knew how impolite it was to abuse another family's house elf.

The house elf eyed him, dubiously. "You may wait in the hall." Said the elf, holding the door open for Lucius to come inside, before padding off and going up the stairs, presumably to Narcissa's room.

Lucius sighed and looked around the hallway, he had no idea why he was so nervous for things to go well, after all, he had only accepted the challenge to prove a point to Narcissa or least that's what he was telling himself. He glanced at his reflection in the mirror, making sure his collar was straight and his hair was neat. He was beginning to wonder if his Grandmother had been right and he should have brought some flowers with him, but then he didn't want to seem too keen. He heard a noise above him and looked up, seeing Narcissa descending the staircase, dressed in an ice-blue coloured dress, it wasn't too formal, but then it wasn't exactly casual either. Whatever the classification, he approved.

He smiled as she reached the bottom of the stairs. "You look very nice."

"Thank you." She smiled and placed her hand in the crux of his elbow. "So, where are you taking me?"

"The Quilted Giraffe." Lucius smiled.

'_That should impress her, this evening is going to go splendidly well..._'

* * *

"I must have gone mad!" Narcissa declared as she strolled into the parlour, throwing her handbag onto the coffee table before sinking herself into her favourite chair.

"I take it by your tone that you're somewhat - aggravated?" Said Bella, picking a tea cup up from the tray and placing it in front of her sister.

"It was a disaster."

"Oh, come on, Cissy. It couldn't have been _that_ bad, he's a rich guy, he must have taken you someplace nice." Bella poured some tea into the cup and placed the sugar bowl in front of Narcissa.

"Oh, he took me someplace _nice_." Cissy said, dropping two sugar lumps into her tea before picking up the milk jug. "That was the problem."

"I'm not sure I'm following you, dear sister."

"Well, he took me to this fancy restaurant, then he took me to this club where we could dance and then he brought me home." Cissy picked up her tea cup and took a sip, wincing she put it back down and added more milk.

"The bastard! He took you to a restaurant and then took you dancing, how dare he? Should I get Papa to set the house elf on him?" Bella smirked.

"You don't get it, do you?" Cissy sighed. "It was _boring_, it was just... regular! _Anyone_ can take you to a restaurant or take you dancing, I thought..." She sighed again, picking her tea cup back up and holding it to her chest. "I thought he might have been _different_."

"Different than what? It sounds to me like he was a perfect gentleman."

"Therein lies the problem, Bella. He was a perfect gentleman, I thought he might have had something different about him than those stuffy gits who normally ask me out. I mean... He _kissed_ me, in the middle of an argument, I thought he might have had some fire, some passion... It turns out, he's just like the rest of them, safe, boring and completely without any ardour in his soul."

Bella rolled her eyes and pointed her hand at the bookshelf in the corner. "Well, you know what, Cissy? If you carry on like this, you're going to end up with only the characters in mother's Quills & Moon novels for company."

* * *

"Lucius? Is that you?"

'_Merlin's beard, not now._'

"Yes, mother, I'm just going to bed."

"Where have you been?" Acantha Malfoy, peaked her head around the corner of the parlour door.

Lucius swallowed, feeling a little guilty. He could not help but notice how lonely his mother looked. "I've been out."

"Courting?" She smiled at him, stepping into the hallway.

Lucius sighed and nodded his head. "Yes, mother, but it didn't go very well, so I'd like to just go to bed, if that's ok?"

"Why don't you tell me about it?" She offered out her hand, inviting him to join her in the parlour.

Lucius nodded his head and gave her a good natured smile, it wouldn't do any harm to keep his mother company for ten minutes. He took her arm and walked into the parlour with her, sitting down in his usual chair, he picked up the decanter of firewhiskey, ignoring the disapproving look from his mother as he poured himself a glass.

"Lucius, do you really think that you should be drinking if you've had a bad night?"

"Mother, it's one glass and I'm a grown man, I don't think _one_ glass is going to hurt me."

She bit her lip, sitting back in her chair, she was glad that he was just home before twelve for a change. "Alright, Lucius. Why don't you tell me about this girl you took out."

Lucius sighed, sitting back in his chair, he raised the glass of firewhiskey to his mouth, taking a sip. "Well, it was Narcissa Black I took out for the evening. However, it didn't go very well."

"Narcissa Black? She's from a good family, what went wrong, darling?"

"I'm not exactly sure, if I tell the truth, mother. I took her for a nice meal, then I took her dancing, but she seemed... I don't know... Bored, I suppose. Nothing I tried seemed to peak her interest."

"Well, don't you feel bad about it, darling. A girl like Narcissa Black, she probably gets taken out all the time, to fancy restaurants and such, when I was a girl, before I met your father, I was invited to all the nice garden parties. Some of the people I met there were as dull as dishwater, I'm sure it was nothing you did though, darling."

Lucius sat forward, raising his eyebrow slightly. "What did you just say, mother?"

She smiled, her son was actually interested in something she had to say. "Well, I said, when I was a girl..."

"No, not about you, about Narcissa."

"Oh... Well I said, she probably gets taken to fancy restaurants all the time..."

"Mother, you're a genius."

"I am?"

"Yes, you are." He got up from his chair and grabbed his mother by the shoulders, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, mother." He said as he started crossing the room.

Acantha stood up, twisting a handkerchief in her hands. "But, where are you going?"

"I'm going back out, mother, don't worry, just go to bed." He called out to her as he shut the parlour door behind him.

She sat back down in her chair, sighing to herself. "But I always worry."

* * *

Narcissa sat in front of her mirror, pinning up her hair up for bed. She was so disappointed, she'd had such high hopes for Lucius Malfoy, especially after his big talk about knowing what true romance was, but it turned out, he was just like the others.

_Tap, tap, tap._

Narcissa's head spun round, looking at the drawn curtains of her bedroom window. "What the hell is that?"

_Tap, tap, tap._

She raised her eyebrow, checking first that her nightgown was hanging properly on her body, she moved slowly across the room, pulling back the curtains sharply and gasping. "What in the name of Merlin, are you doing here?"

Lucius pointed at the window, signalling for her to open it. Which, after a few moments, she did. "Thanks, it's rather cold out there on you're balcony, nice nightie, by the way."

Cissy folded her arms across her chest like a traitorous five year old. "What are you _doing_ on my balcony? I thought I had made it quite clear you had blown your chances, earlier."

"You did, but at least now you can't say that I'm not persistant." He smirked and swung his broom over his shoulder.

Cissy raised her eyebrow, he had changed his clothes, gone was his smart jacket and trousers, now he appeared to be wearing a pair of trousers intended for use on the quidditch pitch, along with a green jersey, the only thing that seemed to be missing were the shin and forearm pads. His hair was pulled back, a little haphazardly with a black ribbon and though she hated to admit, she thought he looked rather hot. "So you were taking a midnight flight and decided to come along and pester me while you were at it?"

"No, I'm here so you give me another chance. Get changed, as nice as your bedclothes might be, they aren't really suitable for flying."

"And what makes you think I'm coming with you?"

"The fact that you didn't tell me to sod off when I got here." He smirked.

She scowled at him, and pushed him with her hand, back onto her balcony, before shutting the window and closing her curtains.

'_Alright, Lucius. Give her five minutes, if she hasn't come back out by then; you've blown it and she's gone to get Bellatrix to hex you to death._'

He checked his watch and waited.

He was pleased when five minutes later, she appeared in the window, her hair hanging loose around her face, now wearing a green cardigan and a pair of tight fitting jeans.

She pulled back the window and stepped out onto the balcony. "You have one hour to impress me."

"I work well with a deadline." He smirked, mounting his broom.

"No showing off, either." She said as she climbed onto the back, putting her hands on his waist.

"Well, I won't show off, but you're going to have to hold on a lot tighter than that."

She slid her arms further around waist, holding onto him tightly. "Better?"

"Much." He kicked off from the ground, soaring into the air. He felt her arms grip to him tighter, he _had_ intended to show off a little, but from the way her small fingers were digging into his skin, he guessed that she didn't have much confidence on a broom.

She didn't say anything to him while they flew, she just held on tightly, resting her ear against his back, hoping that the wind rushing past her head wouldn't give her earache. When they finally started to descend, she smiled.

"I hope this is an improvement on the restaurant." Lucius said as he brought the broom down, landing it on the sand.

"It's more than an improvement." Cissy smiled into his ear, holding onto him for a second longer than she should have, before getting off the broom. "Where are we?"

"Burnham on sea. It's the closest _nice_, beach to our area." He said as he dismounted his broom and slung it over his shoulder.

"Come on." She said, grabbing his hand. "Let's go for a paddle." She started pulling him towards the water.

"A paddle? Are you insane? It'll be freezing!"

"Yeah." She smirked at him. "But that's not always a bad thing."

'_That crafty little vixen..._'

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**Quills & Moon, refers to Mills & Boon, or Harlequin (if you're American) romance novels. Since I thought of it, I haven't been able to resist mentioning them whenever I can, so do forgive me. Hehe**

**Sorry to everyone, by the way, for this chapter taking so long. It went through 3 re-writes before I was finally happy with it. I have no idea why Lucius' mother is so timid, maybe there needed to be at least one timid woman in this story lol.**

**Thanks go to: tyger cub, Jonathan J Strange, snapefan2007, GiggleGinny, sephora85, Moonstar-75 and ****NavyBlueDreamsandKhakithoughts for their lovely reviews.**

**Please R&R**


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